Alexander Benenson

Canadian-born musician Josh Dolgin, aka DJ Socalled, is reviving the centuries-old Jewish tradition of klezmer music the only way he knows how: by mixing it with obscure samples, superior beats, bilingual rap and the occasional reference to his “ding-a-ling.” Dolgin has inspired his fair share of skeptics — people who disapprove of pairing traditional klezmer music with goofy (and sometimes obscene) wit, others who assume that his blending of this music with hip-hop amounts to nothing more than marketable shtick. But with the release of his third full-length album, it is now officially time to leave the grumblers behind: Socalled’s music is remarkably sophisticated.